A Father's Calling

A Father's first calling is to bring his children to know and love the Lord

A Father's first calling is to bring his children to know and love the Lord

    What is the role of father?  In the image above you can see some of the roles he ordained for us.

    We see Joseph, the earthly father of Christ standing watch over Christ.  The cloak is on showing us he is ready to move in any direction God ordains.  His staff in hand serves as an extra support with the ground, keeping him in touch with the reality of natural law.  It also serves as a weapon, to protect his charges and extend his reach using the wisdom of God to make tools with the knowledge he bestows on us through revelation.  Joseph did his duty to provide shelter for his wife, so she could for fill the task of providing a home for their son.  Together they made an environment welcoming angels into their home as messengers of God's wisdom.   I can feel in this moment Joseph already thinking of presenting this gift of our savior to our Lord in the temple of Jerusalem...here he participates showing the wonderful reciprocation of salvation history by Christ becoming man.

    Finally we see a child coming to the Holy Family.  It is our job as fathers to bring our children to Christ, teach them the words of wisdom Christ provided, and a quiet place where Christ can speak to them without all the distractions of the world.  I put the child in focus, because this is our fatherly mission on earth.  The Holy Family, through recognizable is out of focus.  The refinement a child's view on the mysteries of God is a gift of grace given by God alone.

-ehw

P.S.  Thanks to my Dad for giving me a safe place to Love the Lord and work ethic, my Pappap for showing me the power of the Rosary and spiritual fatherhood, and my DjaDja for embracing the culture of life with a rich family life.  A special thanks to my father-in-law who has taught me many ways to torture young suitors who would like to court my daughters in the near future.

A Family Day To Grow in Faith

A day to contemplate our domestic churches

A day to contemplate our domestic churches

    Today we're taking a family day out to grow in faith at the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama.  It is also the shrine Mother Angelia led the development of for the Sisters of Poor Saint Claire.  We are blessed to have three priests from our diocease lead the retreat for the Regina Caeli Academy community.

     The domestic church is a central link between God and Man for salvation.  Throughout the entire Old Testament God builds his plan though families.  When Adam and Eve fall, God proclaims there will always be enmity between the offspring of Eve and the devil.  It prefigures the birth of Christ through a new Eve, we now know as Mary.  The creation and nurturing of the covenant relationship between Abraham, Moses, and David reaches its fullfillment in Christ the son of Joseph of Nazareth.

    Joseph was an heir of the of the covenant, and a decendent of King David.  He lived the law handed down for thousands of years.  When Joseph adopted Jesus, he did so under Jewish law.  In Jewish law there was no step-father status,  You were a father, or just another man to a child.  Jesus became entitled to everything Joseph had through adoption, to include his birthright as an heir of the King.  It also bound Jesus, our savior, to the same covenant relationship that each of his earthly forefathers lived under.  Joseph taught Jesus the ways of Jewish life to make aliving and as spiritual as head of family.

    Mary, was the daughter of a temple priest.  Ancient legends also say she also played her part in the temple sewing the sanctuary veil.  As a child, Mary possibly worked on maintaining the physical  barrier between God and the people of Isreal.  As a young woman, Mary broke the barrier by nurturing the Son of God from conception to death.  Through Mary, Jesus Christ inherited the bloodline of a priest of Isreal.  

    In Jesus final moments of life on the cross he also used his role as head of family to make this circle of family ties complete.  As the family high priest he offered himself as the sacrifice for our salvation.  As the head of household, put his earthly affairs in order by ensuring his mother was cared for.  Christ turned to the disciple he loved, and told him Mary was his mother.  Jesus then told Mary the disciple was her son.  Jesus adopted the disciple, and as such Mary was the disciple's mother too.  In this act, Jesus passes the new covenant he set forth and the Queen Mother on to his church family for all eternity.  

    Through the language of family, Christ completes the circle the covenant relationship.  From the family cornerstone our parishes, diocese and universal chruch obtain their form.  It will be a day well spent to contemplate means to strengthen and nurture this critical institution ordained by God himself through natural law at the dawn of the world.  I hope you can find time in your day to do the same!

-ehw

St. Joseph

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    Today is a special day for me....it is the Feast Day of St. Joseph!  So even though I am in an other state, working 14 hours a day (well 16 today), and it is 20 or so degrees outside I found the Cathederal on the way to work.  As luck would have it, I walked in at mass time! I noted the Bishop was moving along briskly.  So I then attended mass AND got to work on time!

     Today was the funeral for the cousins lost last week in childbirth.  One of the children's middle name was Joseph as well.  So I lit a candle for the children, and asked this great saint to look out for them on the path to heaven.  Just before leaving I said our Blue Knight St. Joseph prayer....

 

Dear St. Jospeh

Who took such good care of the baby Jesus and blessed mother Mary. 

Be our protector to. 

Guide us on the path that is safe and sure, all the way to heaven.

Amen

 

-ehw